By Vance Neely
Restaurant owners and employees rely on customers for their income, so keeping up with front-of-house cleaning is essential. This includes sweeping and mopping floors, wiping tables, and sanitizing high-touch items.
During the health crisis, your team should wipe down tables more often and sanitize high-traffic areas like door handles and railings more frequently.
Clean the Refrigeration
Cleaning services Columbia MO experts say keeping a restaurant clean is an ongoing task. It requires daily restroom cleaning, sanitizing high-touch surfaces, and much more. It also requires regular deep cleaning of kitchen equipment and spaces to prevent food waste and meet health codes.
The following tips will help your staff keep the front and back of the house in top condition. Disinfecting high-touch surfaces frequently, and ensuring that everything is cleaned before opening each day, will keep the restaurant sanitary.
Clean the Floors
Dirty floors are a significant liability issue in restaurants and must be addressed regularly. Use non-toxic cleaning products like a water-based degreaser to eliminate soil and deodorize.
Staff should also use a broom, dustpan, wet-dry vacuum, stiff-bristled deck brush, squeegee, and mop to clean the floor and remove debris. Then, sanitize the floor drains and put out wet-floor signs. Ideally, these deeper floor cleaning operations are performed during off hours to reduce the risk of slips and fall.
Clean the Windows
The restaurant’s front of the house (or FOH) is the area customers see during regular business hours. Therefore, it’s essential to have a routine cleaning schedule so that customers and employees always experience a clean, welcoming environment.
Consider hiring a professional cleaning services Columbia MO service to clean your restaurant. They can care for things like cleaning ashtrays, dusting decorative items and picture frames, wiping down light fixtures, and cleaning baseboards and wall decorations.
Clean the Bathrooms
The bathrooms are one of the most critical areas for a restaurant to keep clean. A dirty bathroom can be a significant turnoff for guests and may lead to a loss of repeat business.
Ensure that your employees have a cleaning checklist to follow and that they check it regularly. Rotating cleaning responsibilities throughout the day will help ensure that the bathrooms are always clean and sanitary.
Clean the Sinks
Even though most front and back-of-house cleaning gets done at the end of a shift, staff members should continue to sanitize high-touch surfaces throughout their changes. This includes wiping railings, seats, and door handles and disinfecting light fixtures and signage. This can help restaurants maintain a higher cleanliness standard during the COVID-19 pandemic and pass health inspections. It can also keep customers happy and avoid negative reviews or fines.
Clean the Dishwasher
During busy times, staff should clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces throughout the day. This will help the restaurant pass health inspections and avoid negative reviews.
Drain the grease traps, clean the interior and exterior of the fryers, and disinfect the griddles. Also, check and clean floor drains in kitchens and bathrooms.
Record the amount of grease disposed of to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
Clean the Stove
The stove is a notorious area for food grime and grease buildup. Therefore, it’s essential to keep this area sanitary for food safety reasons and to prevent cross-contamination.
Remove the grates and drip pans and soak them in hot, sudsy water. This will soften any stuck-on grease and food debris before scrubbing them clean.
Clean the Sink Drain
A little baking soda and vinegar should do the trick when cleaning the sink drain. This job should be done regularly to keep grease from clogging the line. Be sure to disinfect high-touch surfaces between shifts, including ice machines, pass-throughs, and wait station shelving. This helps maintain a high standard of cleanliness. It also keeps food safe and prevents cross-contamination.
Clean the Fridge
Restaurant cleaning is an essential part of running a restaurant. A thorough cleaning process helps restaurants pass health inspections and avoid negative reviews.
This restaurant cleaning checklist lists daily, weekly, and monthly tasks to keep your restaurant clean and sanitary. These tasks include sweeping, mopping, cleaning high-touch surfaces, and washing dishes and equipment. The checklist also provides for jobs to check for pests and rodents.
